Sanctuary Lost WITSEC Town Series Book 1 (25 page)

The whomp of helicopter
rotors crested the mountains. She watched as it flew overhead,
toward the ranch. Not the normal transport of mail, or supplies, or
the chopper that took the trash they couldn’t compost or re-use.
Air pollution from burning waste would give them as much of a
problem as a forest fire. This looked like someone was arriving.
Before daybreak? Way to wake the town.

Andra pounded on the door
again.

It opened but there was no
one there…until she looked down. Pat Mason squinted and then
focused on her face and smiled. “Oh, hey Andra.”

She tried to swallow but
couldn’t.

Hal nudged her aside. “Your
dad around, son?”

“Uh, no. He had a thing
this morning.” Pat hesitated, as though he didn’t know what to say.
Or he’d been told not to share. “He’ll be back soon.”

Andra backed up. “That’s
okay—”

Hal grabbed her elbow and
dragged her inside, moving Pat back along with the door. “We’ll
wait.”

**

John stood by his Jeep
while the helicopter settled. Unlike his arrival, this time the
pilot shut off the engine and got out. He opened the back and
helped the first of two women down. Sure enough, it was the First
Lady and her daughter—albeit slightly more rumpled than they
appeared on television.

Bolton and his guys were
crowded on the porch, watching and drinking from travel mugs. John
wouldn’t mind some coffee. He’d have to make it himself when he got
the ladies back to the office.

Sorry, there’s no welcome
committee. She was murdered last weekend.

John strode to meet them
and the pilot shoved two roll-on suitcases into his hands. Guess
that made him the bag boy. He set them down and tried to look
welcoming. “I’m Sheriff John Mason.”

The First Lady looked like
Jane Fonda, but with naturally aged beauty instead of making use of
the merits of plastic surgery. Her back was straight, her posture
perfect. She gave him a pleasant smile. “I’m Susan
Sheraton.”

He chuckled and shook her
hand, making sure to be gentle. “Yes, ma’am, I’m aware.” Aware,
too, she was a lot more than that. “And this is
Elizabeth?”

“Beth.” The younger woman
shook his hand with her tiny one, the sleeve of her thin sweater
pulled down over her long fingers. Her other arm was wrapped around
her stomach and she looked distinctly off-color around the
edges.

“Welcome to
Sanctuary.”

The First Lady was still
smiling. “You’re hoping we have a pleasant stay?”

“That’s the plan.” If not,
he’d probably get fired.

John motioned to the Jeep,
since Beth didn’t look like she was doing so well with standing.
“Let’s get you both settled.”

He stowed the bags while
they climbed in and then used his radio to call Dotty. This was a
rough situation. John didn’t do well with “delicate” and Dotty’s
warmth would go a long way in soothing the recently
displaced.

He waved to Bolton, whose
cowboy hat dipped. Beth was in the rear seat with her head back and
her eyes closed. He glanced at Susan Sheraton, sat in the front
passenger seat. “Is she doing okay?”

Susan’s smile dimmed, but
she remained the refined lady he’d been expecting. “The last few
days have been…difficult. For both of us.”

He nodded.

“I have no idea how long
we’ll be here. But I’m hoping we can settle in quickly and this
will be the break both of us need.”

He pulled up out front of
the sheriff’s office.

“So quaint.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Please, call me
Susan.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She chuckled. John grabbed
the bags and Mrs. Sheraton roused her daughter, who climbed out
with a groan. Both of them looked more than a little
shell-shocked.

John’s attention landed on
a plume of smoke in trees on the mountainside in the vicinity of
Andra’s cabin.

He dashed inside. Andra
looked up from the waiting area. Hal was slumped next to her, his
chin to his chest as he snored.

Pat paused mid-bite, his
feet up on John’s desk. “Hey, Dad. You want a sandwich?”

He shook his head and
looked at Andra. “There was a fire?”

All she did was nod. Hal
snorted and blinked. “Hey, oh. Right.”

“Are you okay?”

Hal frowned. “Guess that’s
what’s important, even if her cabin has probably burned to a cinder
by now.”

“Why didn’t you call
me?”

Andra sighed. “Pat seemed
to think you were doing something important.”

Movement behind him
preceded the First Lady and her daughter making their way
in.

Hal stood up, chest out.
Pat’s jaw dropped—his mouth full of peanut butter sandwich. Andra
stood, though it appeared reluctant.

John smiled, though he
didn’t feel like it. Who was he supposed to deal with first? He
made introductions. That was a start.

Hal looked like he was
about to burst out of his skin with excitement. “Welcome. Wonderful
to meet you, Ma’am.”

She smiled, but didn’t
offer for him to call her Susan. Still, it looked like Hal might
actually be blushing.

Beth pressed her fist to
her mouth. “Bathroom.”

John pointed to the hall
that led to the back door, where there was a single bathroom. “On
the left.”

Beth
Sheraton—Myerson—rushed to the bathroom and seconds later, John
winced. The sound of puking always churned his stomach. He couldn’t
help it, he was a sympathy puker.

He crossed to the fridge
and drew out two waters, sipping from his until Beth emerged. Her
color was better but she looked relieved when he offered her the
other bottle.

John blew out a breath.
“Right. Hal, think you could put on some water and make these
ladies tea while we figure out housing?”

Hal nodded, so John turned
to the First Lady. “If you’d like to take a seat, I’ll be with you
shortly.” He turned back to where Pat was still eating. “Can you
run and get Olympia, bud? She might know what houses are
available.”

“I’ll ride my bike over.”
Pat hugged John around the hips and then tore upstairs.

John turned again. “Andra,
let’s talk outside.” He didn’t wait for her acknowledgement, just
stepped out and held the door for her. When she joined him on the
sidewalk he didn’t hang around for her to start. “What
happened?”

He needed the lowdown, even
though technically he should be questioning her about why her
fingerprints might be on the murder weapon.

“Someone lit my cabin on
fire.”

He’d figured, what with the
smoke. But still... “Did you see who it was?”

“They used diesel.” Her
eyes darkened. “There’s only one person in town I can think of who
uses diesel for their vehicle.”

John squeezed the bridge of
his nose. Given what Grant had told him about Farrera’s history
with the DEA, did that really make sense? “You think Bolton did
this?”

“Either he did, or one of
his guys. I don’t figure anyone else would have the guts to steal
his fuel.”

“No, I don’t guess they
would.” Unless someone was still trying to deflect attention and
now Bolton had been pulled into their web.

Andra glanced at the
sheriff’s office for a second. “Was that really the First
Lady?”

“In the flesh.”

“Wow.”

“I know.” He smiled,
suddenly nervous. “Why do I feel like the nerd in school and a
cheerleader just deigned to say hi to me?”

She smiled. “Sort of feels
like that, doesn’t it.”

John almost smiled. Then he
remembered the partial fingerprint.

Andra sighed. “That smile
was nice. But now it doesn’t look so good. And my morning was going
so well. You know, except my house burning down and all. What
gives?”

John held her gaze. Where
was she going to stay? Hal or Nadia Marie would probably offer
Andra a place to crash. Would she accept it? “You need to stay in
the office a while.”

“Why?”

“I just want you
close-by.”

“Do you think they’ll try
again, maybe try to kill me for real next time?”

That wasn’t why he needed
her where he could find her. “Look, there was a partial fingerprint
on the murder weapon. The test I conducted was plausible. But it
needs to be verified by a lab computer. That’s going to take some
time. I want to talk with you some more about how that could
be.”

Andra’s face hardened. “I
know I told you my story. I just thought maybe you would be
different than almost every person in this town. I’ve killed
people. Maybe you could even say I’ve killed a lot of people. But I
didn’t do that to Betty.”

She paused a second. “Not
that you care about the truth, but it would violate my Memorandum
of Understanding to murder someone. Why don’t you just arrest me
now and get it over with? Why bother waiting for the test results
when you and everyone else already think I’m guilty. Why not hold a
trial in the Meeting House and you can all decide my fate here and
now?”

“Andra—”

“No.”

He reached for her but she
backed away, her eyes full of pain. No one would think her a
killer. It wasn’t a wonder she’d managed to get close enough to her
victims. “You can’t leave.”

“You’re going to do it
aren’t you? You’re going to arrest me.”

“Will you disappear so I
have to search all over town for you? The other option is you stay
here where I can find you. Just until I have a moment to think.” He
sighed. “But if you’re not willing to work with me on this then
we’re going to have a problem.”

“Work with you?” She
laughed but there was no humor in the sound.

“You want to get
arrested?”

“No, I’ve just accepted the
fact I might’ve had it good for a while, but the consequences
finally caught up with me. Honestly, it’s a miracle it’s lasted
this long. But I’ve been thankful every single day because I’ve
been allowed to live quietly on my mountain and feel like maybe I
could have a good life.”

“And the clock ran out, is
that it?”

“It was bound to
eventually.” She folded her arms. “It’s okay. I learned a long time
ago not to expect people to react well, even though I feel like
that’s not me anymore. That’s why I only told Nadia Marie. Hal
knows some of it, but not all. He doesn’t know about Drew, but how
do you tell people that? Oh, hey, let’s go out for pizza. And did
you know, I killed my husband?”

“Andra—”

“Forget it.”

“I’m not going to do that.”
John wanted to kick the wall. “Whoever killed Betty may be framing
you for it. They may’ve tried to kill you. Let’s face it, you make
a good scapegoat. And if you’re dead then you’re not going to
argue, are you?”

Andra looked like she was
going to be sick. “I can’t fight it. I have to let what will be,
be. That’s the whole point of this.”

“You’re just going to lie
down and take it?”

“What pull do I have? None.
And I know it’s not your thing, but I believe God is doing
something. This is just how it’s going to happen. It’s not the
finale. So I have to wait it out and when we get to the end that
will be what He has planned for me.”

“You’d give up control like
that?”

She tipped her head to the
side. “Look at what He’s given me. Friends, a life, a healthy and
happy daughter. What more is there to ask for, when I don’t deserve
even one iota of what I’ve already been given?”

“Mercy.”

She smiled bright and
brilliant. “Exactly.”

“Then you’ll need to wait
this out inside.”

“What?”

John took hold of her arm.
“I’m not arresting you. But if you’re in here then we can minimize
the damage and maybe you can get through this
unscathed.”

Andra struggled. She saw
the first lady and tried to make herself look dignified, choosing
instead to growl under her breath.

John walked her into the
cell and shut the door.

John stood in the clearing looking at what
was left of Andra’s cabin. Smoke laced the air, the deep tang of
fire left to smolder for hours. The front half of her home was a
blackened mess of charred wood, the front porch had collapsed into
the living room/dining area and the rest of what she owned was
likely hot and steaming.

He’d be surprised if she’d be able to get the
smoke smell out of anything. It looked like a giant with tar on his
shoes had stepped on the front of the cabin and crushed it.

The three guys who made up Sanctuary’s fire
department milled around. They’d trudged up the hill to “the
assassin’s lair” as they’d called it, an hour after he notified
them. Two of the guys had only agreed to come after John explained
about the danger of a wildfire taking out the whole town. Reluctant
didn’t quite cover how they felt about coming to the aid of Andra’s
worldly belongings.